Nowadays, organizations are embracing digital transformation. This is a good thing. The downside, of course, is rising fraud (诈) and data theft. Research by Check Point Software Technologies showed there were 50% more cyberattacks per week on corporate networks in 2021 than in 2020. And these attacks affected the entire range of industries.
Not surprisingly, the cost of defending against these attacks is increasing too. Gartner predicts spending by the information security and risk management market will hit $172.5 billion in 2022. It estimates spend will reach$267.3 billion in 2026. The rise is partly explained by the growing attack surface. As companies make their processes digital, there are so many more areas to defend.
Needless to say, the continuous wave of attacks is increasing the workload of cybersecurity teams. Understandably, employees are becoming overworked and overwhelmed. Is this work pressure prompting unhappy staff to attack companies from the inside? It's hard to say for certain. But there's no doubt that the number of insider incidents is rising.
On the other hand, according to the 2022 Ponemon Institute Cost of Insider Threats: Global Report, the total of incidents has jumped by 44 percent in two years. It argues that carelessness is a bigger issue than genuine insider criminality and concludes 56 percent of incidents were the result of a careless employee or contractor.
Still, there is plenty of optimism around. In 2022, the World Economic Forum published its Global Cybersecurity Outlook. It stated that the remote working habit is making enterprises much more aware of the threat and consequently much more willing to spend on defence. It said: "The accelerating pace of digitalization due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the shift of our working habits are pushing cyber resilience (适应力) forward. As many as 87% of executives are planning to improve cyber resilience at their organization by strengthening resilience policies, processes and standards for how to engage and manage third parties."
